Potential 2018 Draft Needs/Strategy

[drd23]

The player would have to be BPA by a very clear margin for me to be happy with picking a DL in the first round.

A player rated in the same tier at a more needed position would be far more useful and unlikely to get buried on the depth chart

[Danand]

I just want to reiterate that I doubt we can change our offense with a new QB. Last Week, OleXmadhatcwazy created a thread, where he asked the question if Ravens should move on from Flacco. The same thread is up today about Cam newton. Newton wasn't even as inept as Trevor Siemian, the poor guys behind Colts oline. Haven't seen the game, but the Falcons high potent offense didn't perform well against the Patriots defense.

Imo people have to accept, that with how the olines are shaped nowadays and every QB can't be Brady, Brees, Rodgers, their QB's are going to struggle. The thing that will separate this huge middle of the pack QB's is how clutch they are in key moments of the game and their ability to make the gamechanging play. But all these middle of the packs QB's really have to have a more than solid supporting cast. Atm, Flacco has one of the worst. He doesn't elevate what he has around him, but the conditions to do that are poor as heck. 

We can only wonder, if he can go on and perform with less than stellar talent as long as he has the running game, as he did in the past.

And we can only wonder, if the offense would perform much better if it had Dixon, Pitta, Lewis and Yanda. Those are basically the starters (not rotational players) which we have missed this year. Thats 3 starters not counting yesterdays game. 

The injury excuse should only go so far, that we look at the names missed rather than the number of players on IR. There will be struggles when we have to put backups in for backups, which is the case on the guard positions. But if missing a starter in 1-3 positions makes your team the 30th ranked in offense and run defense, then there is something systemic wrong. Or even worse, its a talent issue and we completely misjudged our talent on the team.

While we have been able to find talent somewhere else in the draft, these are the names picked in the first 4 since 2013 rounds who never amounted to anything or were complete busts: Matt Elam, Arthur Brown, John Simon, Terrence Brooks, Crocket Gillmore, Lorenzo Taliaferro, Breshard Perriman, Maxx Williams. 

The verdict is still out on Correa and Kaufusi, and its too early for the rookie class, but from 2013-2015, we didn't get anything from 8 of our 17 picks in the first 4 rounds, and if we remove Tray Walker from that equation, we miss on 50 percent of the players in the top half of the draft.

[berlin calling]

can't fix it all in one draft / offseason.

for me its Guard/RT/RB in no particular order. better to draft guys to sit a year and develop physically / technically than draft for immediate need, which would be my thinking behind G/RT.

let Yanda / Howard play out their contracts and have their replacements ready, or have capable back ups if the injury bug hits hard again / performance of the aforementioned starters drops. Rest of the Oline should be good once all the guys on IR are back healthy. so, main problem to get Flacco back in mentally (hopefully) fixed

as Mancunian Raven mentioned, with Flacco to succeed you need a top tier RB so need to invest a pick here, with (draft pick), Collins and Dixon we should be better than this year.

[paraven]

top pick should be BPA in offensive skill position. (RB,WR,TE). I dont care which one it is, but the ravens need a player who can play offense. I dont care if Ozzie has to throw in a 3rd or 4th round pick to move up (he would waste them on an underachieving OLB anyway), but we have to get playmakers

As for QB, I wouldnt mind grabbing on in the 2nd or 3rd round to groom as a backup/potential starter like the pats did with Garrapolo

[sp6488]

On 10/23/2017 at 3:36 AM, Danand said:

...

Imo people have to accept, that with how the olines are shaped nowadays and every QB can't be Brady, Brees, Rodgers, their QB's are going to struggle. The thing that will separate this huge middle of the pack QB's is how clutch they are in key moments of the game and their ability to make the gamechanging play. But all these middle of the packs QB's really have to have a more than solid supporting cast. Atm, Flacco has one of the worst. He doesn't elevate what he has around him, but the conditions to do that are poor as heck. (1)

...

The injury excuse should only go so far, that we look at the names missed rather than the number of players on IR. There will be struggles when we have to put backups in for backups, which is the case on the guard positions. But if missing a starter in 1-3 positions makes your team the 30th ranked in offense and run defense, then there is something systemic wrong. Or even worse, its a talent issue and we completely misjudged our talent on the team. (2)

...

(1) You're 100% right.  I would also add that one thing people don't seem to understand is that there will always be relative imbalances of talent.  Even though QB play is better than its ever been from a pure talent/technique standpoint, there will still be 10 QBs that are better than the other 22.  Further, these better players need to deal with better players at other positions.  I really don't think any positions are are really getting "worse" over time, rather they are not advancing at the same rate as others.  The defensive players coming into the league are crazy talented.  Your Millers, Macks, Watts, etc. make O-linemen's jobs incredibly difficult.

(2) I think it's more than a starter at 1-3 positions.  On offense, we've lost Woodhead, Dixon, Lewis, Yanda, Siragusa, Pitta, and Gillmore (all guys expected to be major contributors).  Additionally, all three of our expected top three WR coming into the season have missed time.  On Defense, Tavon Young is gone and Brandon Williams along with numerous linemen have missed time.  We truly have been hit harder across the board than pretty much any other team.  I've made my point about claiming we're at the bottom of the barrel in run D elsewhere.

This team absolutely needs to do better.  I don't see any value in making the picture gloomier than it needs to be, though.

[sp6488]

Ideal draft action as of now (more about position than prospects themselves):

(1) Courtland Sutton, WR, SMU - I may be the only one who hasn't yet given up on Perriman, but we still need more playmaking ability on the offense.  Wallace is gone after this year and Maclin will be in a walk year in 2018.  Even if Perriman breaks out, we could definitely use an outside threat like Sutton for the long-term.

(2) Damian Prince, OT/OG, UMD - Prince is a Terp who is projected at RT or OG in the NFL.  He's a great athlete, but maybe not the best technician right now.  I see him as a similar pick to Osemele in 2012 (not that he will be that good, KO well outperformed his draft slot).  Maybe doesn't have the length that KO did to play on the left side potentially, but would fit in nicely at RT or OG wherever we may need him.  

(3) Jordan Whitehead, FS, PSU - We could use a CF-type safety.  He may not play a ton immediately, but Weddle and Webb aren't going to be around much longer.  He could potentially pair with Jefferson in 2019 and beyond.

(4) Nick Chubb, RB, UGA - Not sure if he will fall this far, I typically see him going in the third (again, this is really more about position than individual player).  I could see flipping this with Whitehead for round.  I could definitely see us reinstating our tradition of 4th round RB draftees, though.  Alex Collins looks good at the moment, but there's nothing wrong with adding another guy who can make plays.  Ideally we would go into the season next year with a group of Collins, Dixon, Woodhead, and [promising rookie].

(5) Marcus Baugh, TE, OSU - More of a blocking TE who can act as a safety valve.  We have Williams, Boyle and Mayle coming back next year, so adding a blocking type could be a good move.

(6) Developmental/backup QB 

(7) LB/EDGE/CB/OL/WR

[Danand]

I just want receivers who can catch like the guys on the Seahawks. They bailed Wilson out a couple of times with amazin catches.

[paraven]

If DJ Moore declares for the draft, Ozzie has to do everything to make him a raven.

[paraven]

13 hours ago, Danand said:

I just want receivers who can catch like the guys on the Seahawks. They bailed Wilson out a couple of times with amazin catches.

Its sad watching how bad our receivers are. There isnt one guy (WR or TE) who can make a big play to bail out Flacco. If its a 50/50 ball its either tipped or intercepted

[Danand]

48 minutes ago, paraven said:

Its sad watching how bad our receivers are. There isnt one guy (WR or TE) who can make a big play to bail out Flacco. If its a 50/50 ball its either tipped or intercepted

Usually, I watch the Raens game, which is the early time slot, and then I watch the late games on redzone and then a couple of games on condensed during the week. With us playing thursday, I really got too see more games "live" and had the time to pay better attention to the other teams, and I was somewhat surprised by how much better most receivers are compared to ours. On other teams, wide receivers and tight ends are jumping left and right, high pointing the football and comes up with crazy catches. Ofc there are some drops as well, but compared to what our wide receivers do, man, we have a baaaad WR core.

[paraven]

so the more I look at this team, the more I see a glaring need at a pass catching TE. Does anyone know what the TE prospects look for next year? pick up a TE and RB in round 1/2,  some O Line depth in rounds 3-4,  and pick up a WR in FA

[berlin calling]

4 hours ago, paraven said:

  and pick up a WR in FA

my money is on Dez Bryant being cut this offseason, Dallas would save 8m or so. Just like Sr89 he, who should have been a Raven from day 1 will rejuvenate his career in Bmore and become the possession receiver this team is missing.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

I mean, I would love to get Dez in FA and I still think we should, but man, I just feel like sooner or later we have to find some sort of WR in the draft that can be here past their rookie deals and contribute.

And right now, I think the offense is so miserable that you can pick any of the following as our top need and actually have a valid case for that being our biggest need:

QB RB WR TE OT OG

That's how bad it is. The good news is that our defense seems to be in a relatively stable state, where we have a influx of young talent (B. Williams, Mosley, Judon, Humphrey) coming in where we can focus on just depth there and spend all the early rounds on offense.

 

[paraven]

5 minutes ago, Darth Pees said:

I mean, I would love to get Dez in FA and I still think we should, but man, I just feel like sooner or later we have to find some sort of WR in the draft that can be here past their rookie deals and contribute.

And right now, I think the offense is so miserable that you can pick any of the following as our top need and actually have a valid case for that being our biggest need:

QB RB WR TE OT OG

That's how bad it is. The good news is that our defense seems to be in a relatively stable state, where we have a influx of young talent (B. Williams, Mosley, Judon, Humphrey) coming in where we can focus on just depth there and spend all the early rounds on offense.

 

Ehh,, QB were stuck with Flacco for at least 3 more years where we like it or not. OT should be set with lewis returning next year and Yanda will return giving us another year of solid G play. So that leaves WR,TE, and RB as the biggest needs once its broken down IMO. I guess go BPA at those positions?! I wouldnt mind picking up Oline depth but not in first 2 rounds

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

48 minutes ago, paraven said:

Ehh,, QB were stuck with Flacco for at least 3 more years where we like it or not. OT should be set with lewis returning next year and Yanda will return giving us another year of solid G play. So that leaves WR,TE, and RB as the biggest needs once its broken down IMO. I guess go BPA at those positions?! I wouldnt mind picking up Oline depth but not in first 2 rounds

I mean, why not? If anything, we've proven that IF we are stuck with Flacco for the next 3 years (it's actually 2 IIRC - 2019), without a top OL we're not going anywhere so we might as well invest in a great OL and then go from there. Doesn't matter if we have Dez and Randy Moss at WR, Flacco has shown that any kind of pressure that gets put on him and he's going to falter. I'd rather have an elite OL and be able to run the ball and pass the ball effectively than have pretty good weapons and an OL like we have this year which is inconsistently good and inconsistently bad.